Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion (Expo 2020 Dubai)

Terra, the sustainability pavilion, opened to the public in 2021 for the Dubai World Expo. Alongside the national pavilions, the Expo had pavilions of its own, which served as the centrepiece of each of its three districts: sustainability, mobility and opportunity.

The architects are Grimshaw; Buro Happold, working closely with them, delivered engineering services. The Eden Project shared the lead on the design of the landscape and of the visitor experience, with Grimshaw Architects, Thinc Design and Expo 2020 Dubai's own team as partners.

After the Expo, Terra stayed open and became a permanent attraction of Expo City Dubai, the city that carries on the Expo's legacy.

The pavilion is designed to produce its own energy and water in a desert where the heat can reach 50 degrees: the practice set itself a net-zero balance for both and, in operation, no use of drinking water from Dubai's network. To protect itself, it sinks into the ground: most of its spaces lie buried under an earth roof, whose insulating qualities keep the outside heat at bay. Above ground, a facing of gabions filled with local Hajar Mountains stone covers the surfaces: the mass of the stone soaks up heat, and its natural colour reflects the sun.

At the heart of the pavilion, an outdoor courtyard borrows from the region's vernacular architecture and is cooled passively. Thermodynamic studies of the prevailing winds were used to shape it, so that the cool south-westerly breezes come in and the warmer winds are turned away. Above it, the canopy, inspired by the ghaf, a desert tree, carries photovoltaic cells set into glass panels: it generates energy, gives shade and lets daylight through; in the courtyard one stands as if beneath a large shade tree, in dappled light. The canopy's form brings cool air into the courtyard and, through a chimney effect, drives out at its centre the low-lying hot air. It also gathers rain and dew, which feed the building's water system.

The Socotra dragon tree, from an archipelago in the Arabian Sea, inspired elements of the canopy, the Energy Trees and the Water Trees. The Energy Trees are freestanding, deployable shade structures of steel and composite materials that carry photovoltaic panels. The Water Tree collects dew passively: at night the inner face of its cone cools, droplets form and run to a collection point.

On the roofs and in the gardens, the landscape mixes plants from the surrounding deserts; the water moves through closed loops that filter, supply and recycle it. The site also holds a halophytic farming area and test beds. Demonstration gardens, winding paths and shaded nooks surround the pavilion. Inside, light pipes and fibre-optic systems bring daylight into the deep spaces.

Terra is now an attraction. Its immersive route passes through the roots of a forest and the depths of the ocean, to explore the effect of human choices on the environment; it is aimed at all ages, children in particular. The visit is mostly indoors, with a small outdoor part, and the pavilion also has an indoor playground for children, Taqa Island.

The operator also offers the building for events, with rooftop terraces, an auditorium, workshop spaces and meeting rooms.

A visit takes about two hours, and the pavilion is fully accessible to visitors with disabilities.

Terra stands in the Sustainability District of Expo City Dubai; the new city has its own station on the Red Line of the Dubai Metro.